Don’t ask, don’t question – perhaps I was intrigued by all the Facebook hype about this new soap, perhaps because I saw snippets of the cast interviews on the ARY morning show, perhaps because this was replacing Dareecha, and since I was a closet fan of Dareecha I guess I was missing it … khair, whatever the reason might be … bottom line, I did watch the first episode. I know that it is a bit too early, particularly in the case of soaps, to write a review, so, read this post as being more along the lines of a “first impression.”
This is the story of two families, Punjabi-speaking Chaudhrys and Urdu-speaking Ansaris, who are about to become related. Because of the two fathers being lifelong friends, one son and daughter of each family are getting married to their counterparts in the other family, following the old traditional practice of Watta Satta. Already one can see the premise being set up for problems that arise out of differences in cultural practices. Also, I’m sure we’ll see problems related to the Watta Satta. And, given the fact that there are plenty of other unmarried eligibles on both sides, we’ll surely see more than one budding romance and there’s a predictable potential of more weddings as the soap progreses.
This soap boasts a beyond huge star cast. Let me name just a few that I can remember to give you an idea: Sangeeta, Sumbul, Shahreyar Zaidi, Qavi Khan, Badar Khalil, Nauman Masood, Seemi Pasha, Zeba Ali, Tipu Sharif, Hassan Niazi, Beenish Chohan, Madiha Iftikhar, Sonya Hussain, and several others. Given this galaxy of stars, I hope they all get enough of a chance to do something else other than just random dancing, singing, and crying.
So far so good. We have a huge lineup of stars and the storyline looks interesting. Overall it promises to be a colorful extravaganza, full of masti mazaq, naach gaana, and all the other traditional accompaniments of a shaadi serial. Apart from the fact that it confirms outdated stereotypes – Punjabis as lassi drinking paindus – what I fail to understand is why the need for yet another shaadi related serial. We already have the OTT Shaadi Mubarak, and the soon-to-be-aired latest installment in the iconic Baraat series, Annie ki Aayegi Baraat, which comes with a built-in loyal viewership (to say nothing about the hype surrounding Naveen Waqar as the newest entry and Fawad Khan’s cameo). Moreover, from this admittedly brief look, this looks like a replica of the afore-mentioned Baraat series. My only question – why?? Instead of replicating a so-called winning formula, why not go for original ideas? Didn’t the success of Dareecha illustrate that a well-told story will pull in viewers, regardless of the fact that it was going against the formulaic saas-bahu, or gharelu masley masail, or biwi/shohar type storylines?
The first episode was interesting, but not captivating. I will probably watch it off and on, but given its similarity to the Baraat series, I have to say that I will probably end up watching the further adventures of Saima Chaudhry. Sorry ARY – too close for comfort to the Baraat series…
Written by SZ~ [email protected]
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